Lars Stindl’s simple tap-in, following a costly first-half blunder by Marcelo Diaz, was enough to give Germany a 1-0 win over Chile in the Confederations Cup final on Sunday.
Diaz’s momentary lapse in concentration let Timo Werner rob him of possession, draw the goalkeeper and pass to Stindl, who scored into an empty net on 20 minutes in Saint Petersburg.
“Unbelievable,” beamed Germany captain Julian Draxler, who won the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player.
“We fought well and deserved this win. We hadn’t played together before the tournament, which makes it even more valuable.
“Every title is special, but with this young team, it’s even more so.
“Now we can all go on holiday — and even take the trophy with us,” he added with a grin.
This is the first time Germany, the defending world champions, have won the Confederations Cup in the eighth edition of the pre-World Cup tournament.
“There was not much difference between the two teams,” said Chile captain Claudio Bravo, voted the tournament’s best goalkeeper.
“We are sad not to have won, but we played against a world-class team and must learn from our
The video assistant referee (VAR) again came into the spotlight as Chile’s Gonzalo Jara was lucky not to be sent off in the second half.
Despite his elbow in the face of Werner being reviewed by the VAR, the defender was only booked on 65 minutes.
Werner, Stindl and Leon Goretzka all finished with three goals but RB Leipzig striker Werner took the top scorer’s prize by virtue of also supplying two assists.
Despite dominating for long spells, Chile failed to turn 61 percent possession and 20 shots — compared to the Germans’ eight — into goals.
The South Americans kept the same team which squeezed past Portugal 3-0 on a penalty shootout after a goalless draw in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Germany’s only change from the team which beat Mexico 4-1 in the last four saw defender Shkodran Mustafi replace Benjamin Henrichs. for more details click on this linkhttps://www.supersport.com/football/fifa-confederations-cup/news/170702/Germany_clinch_Confed_Cup_title
